SRDF SRA Upgrade

Our SRDF SRA version 10 has been out for some time now which means more customers are beginning to think about upgrading their 9.2 environment. Version 10 supports all the configurations that 9.2 does (you can compare release notes), along with more recent releases of both PowerMax and SRM. This is enabled by the backward...

Authorizations (symauth) with SRDF SRA and SRM Appliance

Our PowerMax arrays have a number of security features that prevent users from performing certain storage activities when they have access through Unisphere, Solutions Enabler, or any other application for that matter. In the early days of the Symmetrix array family, the two features most commonly used were Symmetrix Access Control (Lists), aka symacls, and...

Partial SRDF/Metro 3-site with SRM (SRA)

I recently ran across a customer configuration I had not seen before with 3-site SRDF/Metro (ASYNC leg with failovertoasync site set in Global XML), and it gave me some concern. Let me talk about the setup and then cover the concerning aspects. I will say from the outset, I actually didn't think this setup was...

PowerMax CSI v2.4 – REST 10, SRDF changes

PowerMax CSI v2.4 is available on GitHub now and can be found here. This CSI is one developed by Dell which enables provisioning of PowerMax volumes to kubernetes environments. While it is typically used in physical environments where both FC and iSCSI are common, it can also be used in VMware environments when the VM...

NVMe/TCP and SRDF (with VMware)

I'm not sure this topic requires a full post, but if you don't work with NVMeoF technology much, you may assume that it is just a different way to connect to your storage and everything else functions pretty much the same as it does with FC/iSCSI connectivity. Spoiler - it doesn't. Here I am interested...

Reprotect SRDF before reprotect SRM

I have worked with a number of companies that have a DR requirement that their production environment switch sites (for the sake of this post we are speaking of a traditional two site configuration) every six months. Think of this as taking the place of regular testing at the DR site. Really then these companies...

SRDF SRA 10.0

Along with the new PowerMax as expected we have a new SRA release, version 10.0. The primary feature of the release is to support Solutions Enabler 10.0 and the new platform - PowerMax 2500/8500. But there are a few items to discuss concerning the release, one a new requirement, the second a bug fix which...

Multiple SRAs cause SRDF SRA bug in Photon SRM

Not the prettiest title, but hey why beat around the bush with it. One of our European customers hit a bug with our SRDF SRA when they went to add Solutions Enabler array pairs in Photon SRM (Windows SRM is not impacted). It wasn't clear this was a bug as the error is common enough...

The Dell EMC PowerMax and VMware vSphere Configuration Guide

For those customers running on PowerMax, I've published the new The Dell EMC PowerMax and VMware vSphere Configuration Guide which is the replacement for Using Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax Storage in VMware vSphere Environments. The new TechBook only covers PowerMax integration/best practices with VMware. While the previous doc was over 400 pages, the new...

Dell EMC CSM with replication

Dell EMC has created a GitHub for container storage modules or CSM. Dell EMC writes that "the Dell Container Storage Modules (CSM) enables [sic] simple and consistent integration and automation experiences, extending enterprise storage capabilities to Kubernetes for cloud-native stateful applications." Quite a mouthful. To de-marketize the statement, CSM sits on top of other integrations...